The error into which the Galatians allowed themselves to be drawn, was the addition of something of nature to what Christ had already accomplished for them by the cross. The gospel which had been preached to them and which they had received, was the simple presentation of God's absolute, unqualified, and unconditional, grace. "Jesus Christ had been evidently set forth crucified among them." This was not merely promise divinely made, but promise divinely and most gloriously accomplished. A crucified Christ settled every thing in reference both to God's claims and man's necessities. But the false teachers upset all this, or sought to upset it, by saying, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." This, as the apostle teaches them, was in reality "making Christ of none effect." Christ must either be awholeSaviour, ornoSaviour at all. The moment a man says, "Exceptyebe this or that, ye cannot be saved," he totally subverts Christianity; for in Christianity I find God coming down to mejust as I am, a lost, guilty, self-destroyed sinner; and coming moreover with a full remission ofallmy sins, and a full salvation from my lost estate, all perfectly wrought by himself on the cross.
Hence, therefore, a man who tells me, "You must be so and so, in order to be saved," robs the cross of all its glory, and robs me of all my peace. If salvation depends upon our being or doing aught, we shall inevitably be lost. Thank God it does not; for the great fundamental principle of the gospel is, that God is ALL,—man is NOTHING. It is not a mixture of God and man. It is all of God. The peace of the gospel does not repose in part on Christ's work, and in part on man's work; it reposeswhollyon Christ's work, because that work is perfect,—perfect forever; and it renders all who put their trust in it as perfect as itself.
Under the law, God as it were stood still to see what man could do; but in the gospel God is seen acting, and as for man, he has but to "stand still and see the salvation of God." This being so, the inspired apostle hesitates not to say to the Galatians, "Christ is become of no effect unto you; whosoever of you are justified by law (εν νομω), ye are fallen from grace." If man has any thing to do in the matter, God is shut out; and if God is shut out, there can be no salvation, for it is impossible that man can work out a salvation by that which proves him a lost creature; and then if it be a question ofgrace, it must be all grace. It cannot be half grace, half law. The two covenants are perfectly distinct. It cannot be half Sarah and half Hagar. It must be either the one or the other. If it be Hagar, God has nothing to do with it; and if it be Sarah, man has nothing to do with it. Thus it stands throughout. The law addresses man, tests him, sees what he is really worth, proves him a ruin, and putshim under the curse; and not only puts him under it, but keeps him there so long as he is occupied with it,—so long as he is alive. "The law hath dominion over a man so long as he liveth;" but when he is dead, its dominion necessarily ceases so far as he is concerned, though it still remains in full force to curse everylivingman.
The gospel, on the contrary, assuming man to be lost, ruined, dead, reveals God as he is,—the Saviour of the lost,—the Pardoner of the guilty,—the Quickener of the dead. It reveals him, not as exacting aught from man, (for what could be expected from one who has died a bankrupt?) but as exhibiting his own independent grace in redemption. This makes a material difference and will account for the extraordinary strength of the language employed in the Epistle to the Galatians: "I marvel"—"Who hath bewitched you?"—"I am afraid of you"—"I stand in doubt of you"—"I would they were even cut off that trouble you." This is the language of the Holy Ghost, who knows the value of a full Christ and a full salvation; and who also knows how essential the knowledge of both is to a lost sinner. We have no such language as this in any other epistle; not even in that to the Corinthians, although there were some of the grossest disorders to be corrected amongst them. All human failure and error can be corrected by bringing in God's grace; but the Galatians, like Abraham in this chapter, were going away from God, and returning to the flesh. What remedy could be devised for this? How can you correct an error which consists in departing from that which alone can correct any thing? To fall from grace, is to get back under the law, fromwhich nothing can ever be reaped but "theCURSE." May the Lord establish our hearts in his own most excellent grace!
Here we have God's remedy for Abraham's failure set before us. "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said unto him,I am the Almighty God: walk beforeme, and be thouperfect."[15]This is a most comprehensive verse. It is very evident that Abraham had not been walking before the Almighty God when he adopted Sarah's expedient in reference to Hagar. It is faith alone that can enable a man to walk up and down before an Almighty One. Unbelief will ever be thrusting in something of self, something of circumstances, second causes, and the like, and thus the soul is robbed of the joy and peace, the calm elevation, and holy independence, which flow from leaning upon the arm of One who can do every thing. I believe we deeply need to ponder this. God is not such an abiding reality to our souls as he ought to be, or as he would be, were we walking in more simple faith and dependence.
"Walk beforeme." This is true power. To walk thus, implies our having nothing whatever before our hearts save God himself. If I am founding my expectation upon men and things, I am not walking before God, but before men and things. It is of the utmost importance to ascertain who or what I have before me as an object. To what am I looking? On whom or what am I leaning, at this moment? Does Godentirelyfill my future? Have men or circumstances aught to do therein? Is there any space allotted to the creature? The only way in which to get above the world is to walk by faith, because faith so completely fills the scene with God, that there is no room for the creature,—no room for the world. If God fills up my entire range of vision, I can see nothing else; and then I am able to say with the Psalmist, "My soul, wait thouonlyupon God; for my expectation is from him. Heonlyis my rock and my salvation: he is my defence, I shall not be moved." (Ps. lxii. 5, 6.) This word "only" is deeply searching. Nature cannot say this. Not that it will, save when under the direct influence of a daring and blasphemous skepticism, formally shut out God altogether; but it, assuredly, cannot say, "He only."
Now, it is well to see that, as in the matter of salvation, so in all the details of actual life, from day to day, God will not share his glory with the creature. From first to last, it must be "he only;" and this, too, in reality. It will not do to have the language of dependence upon God on our lips, while our hearts are really leaning on some creature resource. God will make all this fully manifest; he will test the heart; he will put faith into the furnace. "Walk before me, and bethou perfect." Thus it is we reach the proper point. When the soul is enabled, by grace, to get rid of all its fondly-cherished creature expectations, then, and only then, it is prepared to let God act; and when he acts all must be well. He will not leave any thing undone. He will perfectly settle every thing on behalf of those who simply put their trust in him. When unerring wisdom, omnipotent power, and infinite love combine, the confiding heart may enjoy unruffled repose. Unless we can find some circumstance too big or too little for "the Almighty God," we have no proper base on which to found a single anxious thought. This is an amazing truth, and one eminently calculated to put all who believe it into the blessed position in which we find Abraham in this chapter. When God had, in effect, said to him, "Leaveallto me and I will settle it for you, beyond your utmost desires and expectations; the seed and the inheritance, and every thing pertaining thereto, will be fully and everlastingly settled, according to the covenant of the Almighty God,"—then "Abram fell on his face." Truly blessed attitude! the only proper one for a thoroughly empty, feeble, and unprofitable sinner to occupy in the presence of the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the possessor of all things, "the Almighty God."
"And God talked with him." It is when man is in the dust that God can talk to him in grace. Abraham's posture here is the beautiful expression of entire prostration, in the presence of God, in the sense of utter weakness and nothingness. And this, be it observed, is the sure precursor of God's revelation of himself. It is when the creature is laid low that God can showhimself in the unclouded effulgence of what he is. He will not give his glory to another. He can reveal himself, and allow man to worship in view of that revelation; but until the sinner takes his proper place, there can be no unfolding of the divine character. How different is Abraham's attitude in this and the preceding chapter! There, he had nature before him; here, he has the Almighty God. There, he was an actor; here, he is a worshipper. There, he was betaking himself to his own and Sarah's contrivance; here, he leaves himself and his circumstances, his present and his future, in God's hands, and allows him to act in him, for him, and through him. Hence, God can say, "I will make"—"I will establish"—"I will give"—"I will bless." In a word, it is all God and his actings; and this is real rest for the poor heart that has learnt any thing of itself.
The covenant of circumcision is now introduced. Every member of the household of faith must bear in his body the seal of that covenant. There must be no exception. "He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh, for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man-child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people: he hath broken my covenant." We are taught in Romans iv., that circumcision was "a seal of the righteousness of faith." "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Being thus counted righteous, God set his "seal" upon him.
The seal with which the believer is now sealed is nota mark in the flesh, but "that Holy Spirit of promise, whereby he is sealed unto the day of redemption." This is founded upon his everlasting connection with Christ, and his perfect identification with him, in death and resurrection; as we read, in Colossians, "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. In whom also ye arecircumcisedwith the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ; buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him, through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." This is a most glorious passage, unfolding to us the true idea of what circumcision was meant to typify. Every believer belongs to "the circumcision" in virtue of his living association with him who, by his cross, has forever abolished every thing that stood in the way of his church's perfect justification. There was not a speck of sin on the conscience, nor a principle of sin in the nature of his people, for which Christ was not judged on the cross; and they are now looked upon as having died with Christ, lain in the grave with Christ, been raised with Christ, perfectly accepted in him,—their sins, their iniquities, their transgressions, their enmity, their uncircumcision, having been entirely put away by the cross. The sentence of death has been written on the flesh; but the believer is in possession of a new life, in union with his risen Head in glory.
The apostle in the above passage teaches that theChurch was quickened out of the grave of Christ; and moreover, that the forgiveness of all her trespasses is as complete, and as entirely the work of God, as was the raising of Christ from the dead; and this latter, we know, was the result of "God's mighty power," or, as it may be rendered, "according to the energy of the might of his power" (Eph. i. 19),—a truly wonderful expression, calculated to set forth the magnitude and glory of redemption, as well as the solid basis on which it rests.
What rest—perfect rest—for the heart and conscience is here! What full relief for the burdened spirit!Allour sins buried in the grave of Christ,—not one—even the smallest—left out! God did this for us! All that his searching eye could detect in us, he laid on the head of Christ when he hung upon the cross! He judged him there and then, instead of judging us, in hell forever! Precious fruit, this, of the admirable, the profound, the eternal counsels of redeeming love! And we are "sealed," not with a certain mark cut in our flesh, but with the Holy Ghost. The entire household of faith is sealed thus. Such is the dignity, the value, the changeless efficacy of the blood of Christ, that the Holy Ghost—the Third Person of the eternal Trinity—can take up his abode in all those who have put their trust therein.
And now, what remains for those who know these things, save to "be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." Thus may it be, O Lord, through the grace of thy Holy Spirit!
This chapter affords a beautiful exemplification of the results of an obedient, separated walk. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me." (Rev. iii. 20.) Again, we read, "Jesus answered, and said unto him, If a man love me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." (John xiv. 23.) From these passages, taken in connection with our chapter, we learn that an obedient soul enjoys a character of communion entirely unknown to one who moves in a worldly atmosphere.
This does not touch, in the most remote manner, the question of forgiveness or justification. All believers are clothed in the same spotless robe of righteousness,—all stand in one common justification, under the eye of God. The one life flows down from the Head in heaven through all the members on earth. This is plain. The doctrine, in reference to the above important points, is fully established in the word; and has been, again and again, unfolded through the foregoing pages of this volume. But we should remember that justification is one thing, and the fruit thereof quite another. To be a child is one thing, to be an obedient child is quite another. Now, a father loves an obedient child, and will make such a child more the depositary of his thoughts and plans. And is this not true, in reference to our heavenly Father? Unquestionably. John xiv. 23,puts this quite beyond dispute; and, moreover, it proves that for one to speak of loving Christ and not to "keep his words," is hypocrisy. "If a man love me, he will keep my words." Hence, if we are not keeping Christ's words, it is a sure proof we are not walking in the love of his name. Love to Christ is proved by doing the things which he commands, and not by merely saying, "Lord, Lord." It is of very little avail to say, "I go, sir," while the heart has no idea of going.
However, in Abraham we see one who, however he may have failed in detail, was nevertheless characterized in the main by a close, simple, and elevated walk with God; and in the interesting section of his history now before us, we find him in the enjoyment of three special privileges, namely, providing refreshmentforthe Lord, enjoying full communionwiththe Lord, and interceding for othersbeforethe Lord. These are high distinctions; and yet are they only such as ever result from an obedient, separated, holy walk. Obedience refreshes the Lord, as being the fruit of his own grace in our hearts. We see in the only perfect man that ever lived how he constantly refreshed and delighted the Father. Again and again God bore testimony to him from heaven, as his "beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased." The path of Christ furnished a continual feast to heaven. His ways were ever sending up a fragrant incense to the throne of God. From the manger to the cross, he did always the things which pleased his Father. There was no interruption, no variation, no salient point. He was the only perfect One. "There only can the Spirit trace a perfect life below." Here and there, as we look along the currentof inspiration, we find one and another who occasionally refreshed the mind of heaven. Thus, in the chapter before us, we find the tent of the stranger at Mamre affording refreshment to the Lord himself,—refreshment lovingly offered and willingly accepted. (Ver. 1-8.)
Then we find Abraham enjoying high communionwiththe Lord, first in reference to his own personal interests, (ver. 9-15,) and secondly in reference to the destinies of Sodom. (Ver. 16, 21.) What confirmation to Abraham's heart in the absolute promise "Sarahshall have a son!" Yet this promise only elicited a laugh from Sarah, as it had elicited one from Abraham in the preceding chapter.
There are two kinds of laughter spoken of in scripture. There is first the laughter with which the Lord fills our mouth, when, at some trying crisis, he appears in a signal manner for our relief. "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled withlaughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them; the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad." (Ps. cxxvi. 1, 2.)
Again, there is the laughter with which unbelief fills our mouths, when God's promises are too magnificent for our narrow hearts to take in, or the visible agency too small in our judgment for the accomplishment of his grand designs. The first of these we are never ashamed or afraid to avow. Zion's sons are not ashamed to say, "then was our mouth filled with laughter." (Ps. cxxvi. 2.) When Jehovah makes us to laugh, we may laugh heartily. "But Sarah denied, saying, Ilaughed not; for she was afraid." Unbelief makes us cowards and liars; faith makes us bold and truthful. It enables us to "come boldly," and to "draw near with true hearts."
But, further, Abraham is made the depositary of God's thoughts and counsels about Sodom. Though having nothing to do with it personally, yet he was so near the Lord that he was let into his mind in reference to it. The way to know the divine purposes about this present evil world, is not to be mixed up with it in its schemes and speculations, but to be entirely separated from it. The more closely we walk with God, and the more subject we are to his word, the more we shall know of his mind about every thing. I do not need to study the newspaper in order to know what is going to happen in the world. God's word reveals all I want to know. In its pure and sanctifying pages I learn all about the character, the course, and the destiny of the world; whereas, if I go to the men of the world for news, I may expect that the devil will use them to cast dust in my eyes.
Had Abraham visited Sodom in order to obtain information about its facts, had he applied to some of its leading intelligent men, to know what they thought of Sodom's present condition and future prospects, how would he have been answered? Doubtless they would have called his attention to their agricultural and architectural schemes, the vast resources of the country; they would have placed before his eyes one vast, mingled scene of buying and selling, building and planting, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Doubtless, too, they would never dream of judgment,and if any one had made mention thereof, their mouths would have been filled with infidel laughter. Hence, then, it is plain, that Sodom was not the place in which to learn about Sodom's end. No; "the place, where Abraham stood before the Lord," afforded the only proper point from whence to take in the whole prospect. There he could stand entirely above the fogs and mists which had gathered upon Sodom's horizon. There, in the clearness and calmness of the divine presence, he could understand it all. And what use did he make of his knowledge and his elevated position? How was he occupied in the Lord's presence? The answer to these inquiries leads us to the third special privilege enjoyed by our patriarch in this chapter, namely,—
Intercession for othersbeforethe Lord. He was enabled to plead for those who were mixed up in Sodom's defilement, and in danger of being involved in Sodom's judgment. This was a happy and a holy use to make of his place of nearness to God. Thus it is ever. The soul that can "draw near to God," in the assurance of faith, having the heart and conscience perfectly at rest, being able to repose in God as to the past, the present, and the future,—that soul will be able and willing to intercede for others. The man who has on "the whole armor of God," will be able to pray for all "saints." And, oh! what a view this gives us of the intercession of our Great High-priest, who has passed into the heavens! "What infinite repose he enjoys in all the divine counsels!" With what conscious acceptance he sits enthroned amid the brightness of the Majesty in the heavens! And with what efficacy he pleads before that Majesty for those who are toilingalong amid the defilement of this present scene! Happy, ineffably happy, they who are the subjects of such all-prevailing intercession! At once happy and secure. Would that we had hearts to enter into all this,—hearts enlarged by personal communion with God, to take in more of the infinite fulness of his grace, and the suitability of his provision, for all our need.
We see in this scripture that how blessed soever Abraham's intercession might be, yet it was limited, because the intercessor wasbut a man. It did not reach the need. He said, "I will speakyet but this once," and there he stopped short, as if afraid of having presented too large a draft at the treasury of infinite grace, or forgetting that faith's check was never yet dishonored at God's bank. It was not that he was straitened in God. By no means. There was abundance of grace and patience in him to have hearkened to his dear servant, had he proceeded even to three or one. But the servant was limited. He was afraid of overdrawing his account. He ceased to ask, and God ceased to give. Not so our blessed Intercessor. Of him it can be said, "He is able to saveto the uttermost, ... seeing heeverliveth to make intercession." May our hearts cling to him in all our need, our weakness, and our conflict.
Before closing this section, I would offer a remark, which, whether it may be regarded as properly flowing out of the truth contained therein, or not, is nevertheless worthy of consideration. It is of the utmost importance in the study of scripture to distinguish between God's moral government of the world, and the specific hope of the Church. The entire body of OldTestament prophecy, and much of the New, treats of the former, and, in so doing, presents, I need hardly say, a subject of commanding interest to every Christian. It is interesting to know what God is doing, and will do, with all the nations of the earth,—interesting to read God's thoughts about Tyre, Babylon, Nineveh, and Jerusalem,—about Egypt, Assyria, and the land of Israel. In short, the entire range of Old Testament prophecy demands the prayerful attention of every true believer. But let it be remembered, we do not find therein contained the proper hope of the Church. How could we? If we have not therein the Church's existence directly revealed, how could we have the Church's hope? Impossible. It is not that the Church cannot find there a rich harvest of divine moral principles, which she may most happily and profitably use. She undoubtedly can; but this is quite another thing from finding there her proper existence and specific hope. And yet, a large portion of the Old-Testament prophecies has been applied to the Church; and this application has involved the whole subject in such mist and confusion that simple minds are scared away from the study; and, in neglecting the study of prophecy, they have also neglected that which is quite distinct from prophecy, properly so called, even the hope of the Church; which hope, be it well remembered, is not any thing which God is going to do with the nations of the earth, but to meet the Lord Jesus in the clouds of heaven, to be forever with him, and forever like him.
Many may say, I have noheadfor prophecy. Perhaps not, but you have aheartfor Christ? Surely if you love Christ, you will love his appearing, thoughyou may have no capacity for prophetic investigation. An affectionate wife may not have a head to enter into her husband's affairs; but she has a heart for her husband's return. She might not be able to understand his ledger and day-book; but she knows his footstep and recognizes his voice. The most unlettered saint, if only he has affection for the person of the Lord Jesus, can entertain the most intense desire to see him; and this is the Church's hope. The apostle could say to the Thessalonians, "Ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and towait for his Son from heaven." (1 Thess. i. 9, 10.) Now, evidently, those Thessalonian saints could, at the moment of their conversion, have known little, if any thing, of prophecy, or the special subject thereof; and yet they were, at that very moment, put into the full possession and power of the specific hope of the Church,—even the coming of the Son. Thus is it throughout the entire New Testament. There, no doubt, we have prophecy,—there, too, we have God's moral government; but, at the same time, numberless passages might be adduced in proof of the fact that the common hope of Christians in apostolic times—the simple, unimpeded, and unencumbered hope—was, THE RETURN OF THE BRIDEGROOM. May the Holy Ghost revive "that blessed hope" in the Church,—may he gather in the number of the elect, and "make ready a people prepared for the Lord!"
There are two methods which the Lord graciously adopts, in order to draw the heart away from this present world. The first is, by setting before it the attractiveness and stability of "things above." The second is, by faithfully declaring the evanescent and shakeable nature of "things on the earth." The close of Hebrews xii. furnishes a beautiful example of each of these methods. After stating the truth, that we are come unto mount Zion, with all its attendant joys and privileges, the apostle goes on to say, "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh: for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven; whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once I shake, not only the earth, but also heaven. Now this word Once signifieth the removal of the shakeable things, as of things that are made, that the unshakeable things may remain." Now it is much better to bedrawnby the joys of heaven, thandrivenby the sorrows of earth. The believer should not wait to be shaken out of present things. He should not wait for the world to give him up before he gives up the world. He should give it up in the power of communion with heavenly things. There is no difficulty in giving up the world when we have, by faith, laid hold of Christ: the difficulty would then be to hold it. If a scavenger were left an estate of ten thousand a year, he would not long continue tosweep the streets. Thus, if we are realizing our portion amid the unshakeable realities of heaven, we shall find little difficulty in resigning the delusive joys of earth. Let us now look at the solemn section of inspired history here set before us.
In it we find Lot "sitting in the gate of Sodom," the place of authority. He has evidently made progress. He has "got on in the world." Looked at from a worldly point of view, his course has been a successful one. He at first "pitched his tenttowardSodom." Then, no doubt, he found his way into it; and now we find him sitting in the gate,—a prominent, influential post. How different is all this from the scene with which the preceding chapter opens! But, ah! my reader, the reason is obvious. "By faithAbraham sojourned in the land of promise, as in astrange country, dwelling in tabernacles." We have no such statement in reference to Lot.[16]It could not be said, "By faith Lot sat in the gate of Sodom." Alas! no: he gets no place among the noble army of confessors,—the great cloud of witnesses to the power of faith. The world was his snare, present things his bane. He did not "endure as seeing him who is invisible." He looked at "the things which are seen, and temporal:" whereas Abraham looked at "the things which are unseen and eternal." There was a most material difference between those two men, who, though they started together on their course, reached a very different goal, so far as theirpublic testimony was concerned. No doubt Lot was saved, yet it was "so as by fire," for, truly, "his work was burned up." On the other hand, Abraham had "an abundant entrance ministered unto him into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
Further, we do not find that Lot is permitted to enjoy any of the high distinctions and privileges with which Abraham was favored. Instead of refreshing the Lord, Lot gets his righteous soul vexed; instead of enjoying communionwiththe Lord, he is at a lamentable distancefromthe Lord; and lastly, instead of interceding for others, he finds enough to do to intercede for himself. The Lord remained to commune with Abraham, and merely sent his angels to Sodom; and these angels could, with difficulty be induced to enter into Lot's house, or partake of his hospitality: "they said, Nay, butwe will abide in the street all night." What a rebuke! How different from the willing acceptance of Abraham's invitation, as expressed in the words, "So do as thou hast said."
There is a great deal involved in the act of partaking of any one's hospitality. It expresses, when intelligently looked at, full fellowship with him. "I will come in unto him, and supwith him, andhe with me." "If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide." If they had not so judged her, they would not have accepted her invitation.
Hence, the angels' word to Lot contains a most unqualified condemnation of his position in Sodom. They would rather abide in the street all night, than enter under the roof of one in a wrong position. Indeed, their only object in coming to Sodom seems to havebeen to deliver Lot, and that, too, because of Abraham; as we read: "And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, thatGod remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt." This is strongly marked. It was simply for Abraham's sake that Lot was suffered to escape: the Lord has no sympathy with a worldly mind; and such a mind it was that had led Lot to settle down amid the defilement of that guilty city. Faith never put him there; a spiritual mind never put him there; "his righteous soul" never put him there. It was simple love for this present evil world that led him first to "choose," then to "pitch his tent toward," and finally, to "sit in the gate of Sodom." And, oh! what a portion he chose. Truly it was a broken cistern which could hold no water,—a broken reed which pierced his hand. It is a bitter thing to seek, in any wise, to manage for ourselves; we are sure to make the most grievous mistakes. It is infinitely better to allow God to order all our ways for us, to commit them all, in the spirit of a little child, to him who is so willing and so able to manage for us,—to put the pen, as it were, into his blessed hand, and allow him to sketch out our entire course according to his own unerring wisdom and infinite love.
No doubt Lot thought he was doing well for himself and his family when he moved to Sodom; but the sequel shows how entirely he erred; and it also sounds in our ears a voice of deepest solemnity,—a voice telling us to beware how we yield to the incipient workings of a worldly spirit. "Be content with such things as ye have." Why? Is it because you are so well off in theworld? Because you have all that your poor rambling hearts would seek after? Because there is not so much as a single chink in your circumstances, through which a vain desire might make its escape? Is this to be the ground of our contentment? By no means. What then? "For he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Blessed portion! Had Lot been content therewith, he never would have sought the well-watered plains of Sodom.
And then, if we need any further ground of inducement to the exercise of a contented spirit, truly we have it in this chapter. What did Lot gain in the way of happiness and contentment? Little indeed. The people of Sodom surround his house, and threaten to break into it; he seeks to appease them by a most humiliating proposition, but all in vain. If a man will mingle with the world for the purpose of self-aggrandizement, he must make up his mind to endure the sad consequences. We cannot profit by the world, and at the same time bear effectual testimony against its wickedness. "This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge." This will never do. The true way to judge is to stand apart, in the moral power of grace, not in the supercilious spirit of Pharisaism. To attempt to reprove the world's ways while we profit by association with it, is vanity; the world will attach very little weight to such reproof and such testimony. Thus it was, too, with Lot's testimony to his sons-in-law; "he seemed as one that mocked." It is vain to speak of approaching judgment, while finding our place, our portion, and our enjoyment, in the very scene which is to be judged.
Abraham was in a far better position to speak of judgment, inasmuch as he was entirely outside of the sphere thereof. The tent of the stranger at Mamre was in no danger, though Sodom were in flames. Oh, that our hearts longed more after the precious fruits of a realized strangership, so that instead of having, like poor Lot, to be dragged by main force out of the world, and casting a lingering look behind, we might, with holy alacrity bound forward like a racer towards the goal!
Lot evidently longed after the scene which he was forced by angelic power to abandon; for not only had the angels to lay hold of him and hasten him away from the impending judgment, but even when exhorted to escape forhis life(which was all he could save from the wreck) and flee to the mountain, he replies, "Oh! not so, my Lord: behold, now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou hast showed unto me in savingmy life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me and I die: behold, now,this cityis near to flee unto, and it is a little one: oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live." What a picture! He seems like a drowning man, ready to catch even at a floating feather. Though commanded by the angel to flee to the mountain, he refuses, and still fondly clings to the idea of "a little city,"—some little shred of the world. He feared death in the place to which God was mercifully directing him,—yea, he feared all manner of evil, and could only hope for safety in some little city, some spot of his own devising. "Oh, let me escapethither, and my soul shall live." How sad! There is no casting himself wholly upon God. Alas!he had too long walked at a distance from him; too long breathed the dense atmosphere of a "city," to be able to appreciate the pure air of the divine presence, or lean on the arm of the Almighty. His soul seemed completely unhinged; his worldly nest had been abruptly broken up, and he was not quite able to nestle himself, by faith, in the bosom of God. He had not been cultivating communion with the invisible world; and, now, the visible was passing away from beneath his feet with tremendous rapidity. The "fire and brimstone from heaven" were about to fall upon that in which all his hopes and all his affections were centred. The thief had broken in upon him, and he seems entirely divested of spiritual nerve and self-possession. He is at his wits' end; but the worldly element, being strong in his heart, prevails, and he seeks his only refuge in "a little city." Yet he is not at ease even there, for he leaves it and gets up to the mountain. He does through fear what he would not do at the command of God's messenger.
And then, see his end! His own children make him drunk, and in his drunkenness he becomes the instrument of bringing into existence the Ammonites and the Moabites,—the determined enemies of the people of God. What a volume of solemn instruction is here! Oh, my reader, see here what the world is! see what a fatal thing it is to allow the heart to go out after it! What a commentary is Lot's history upon that brief but comprehensive admonition, "Love not the world!" This world's Sodoms and its Zoars are all alike. There is no security, no peace, no rest, no solid satisfaction for the heart therein. The judgment of God hangs over the whole scene; and he only holds back thesword, in long-suffering mercy, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Let us, then, seek to pursue a path of holy separation from the world. Let us, while standing outside its entire range, be found cherishing the hope of the Master's return. May its well-watered plains have no charms for our hearts. May its honors, its distinctions, and its riches, be all surveyed by us in the light of the coming glory of Christ. May we be enabled, like the holy patriarch Abraham, to get up into the presence of the Lord, and, from that elevated ground, look forth upon the scene of wide-spread ruin and desolation,—to see it all, by faith's anticipative glance, a smoking ruin.Such it will be."The earth also, and the things that are therein, shall be burned up." All that about which the children of this world are so intensely anxious—after which they are so eagerly grasping—for which they are so fiercely contending—all—all will be burned up. And who can tell how soon? "Where is Sodom? Where is Gomorrah? Where are the cities of the plain,—those cities which were once all life, and stir, and bustle? Where are they now? All gone! swept away by the judgment of God! Consumed by his fire and brimstone!" Well, his judgments now hang over this guilty world. The day is at hand; and, while judgments impend, the sweet story of grace is being told out to many an ear. Happy they who hear and believe that story! Happy they who flee to the strong mountain of God's salvation! who take refuge behind the cross of the Son of God, and therein find pardon and peace!
God grant that the reader of these lines may knowwhat it is, with a conscience purged from sin, and his heart's affections purged from the defiling influence of the world, to wait for the Son from heaven.
We have two distinct points in this chapter: first, the moral degradation to which the child of God sometimes subjects himself in the view of the world; and, secondly, the moral dignity which always belongs to him in the view of God. Abraham again exhibits the dread of circumstances which the heart can so easily understand. He sojourns in Gerar, and fears the men of that place. Judging that God was not there, he forgets that he is always with him. He seems to be more occupied with the men of Gerar than with the One who was stronger than they. Forgetting God's ability to protect his wife, he has recourse to the same stratagem which, years before, he had adopted in Egypt. This is very admonitory. The father of the faithful was carried away, by taking his eye off God. He lost for a little his centre in God, and, therefore, gave way. How true it is that we are only strong as we cling to God in the sense of our perfect weakness. So long as we are in the path of his appointment, nothing can harm us. Had Abraham simply leaned on God, the men of Gerar would not have meddled with him; and it was his privilege to have vindicated God's faithfulness in the midst of the most appalling difficulties. Thus, too, he would have maintained his own dignity as a man of faith.
It is often a source of sorrow to the heart to mark how the children of God dishonor him, and, as a consequence, lower themselves before the world by losing the sense of his sufficiency for every emergency. So long as we live in the realization of the truth thatallour springs are in God, so long shall we be above the world, in every shape and form. There is nothing so elevating to the whole moral being as faith: it carries one entirely beyond the reach of this world's thoughts; for how can the men of the world, or even worldly-minded Christians, understand the life of faith? Impossible: the springs on which it draws lie far away beyond their comprehension. They live on the surface of present things. So long as they canseewhat they deem a proper foundation for hope and confidence, so long they are hopeful and confident; but the idea of resting solely on the promise of an unseen God, they understand not. But the man of faith is calm in the midst of scenes in which nature canseenothing. Hence it is that faith ever seems, in the judgment of nature, such a reckless, improvident, visionary thing. None but those who know God, can ever approve the actings of faith, for none but they really understand the solid and truly reasonable ground of such actings.
In this chapter we find the man of God actually exposing himself to the rebuke and reproach of the men of the world, by reason of his actings when under the power of unbelief. Thus it must ever be. Nothing but faith can impart true elevation to a man's course and character. We may, it is true, see some who are naturally upright and honorable in their ways, yet nature's uprightness and honor cannot be trusted:they rest on a bad foundation, and are liable to give way at any moment. It is only faith which can impart a truly elevated moral tone, because it connects the soul in living power with God, the only Source of true morality. And it is a remarkable fact that, in the case of all those whom God has graciously taken up, we see that, when off the path of faith, they sank even lower than other men. This will account for Abraham's conduct in this part of his history.
But there is another point of much interest and value brought out here. We find that Abraham had harbored an evil thing for a number of years: he had, it seems, started upon his course with a certain reserve in his soul, which reserve was the result of his want of full, unqualified confidence in God. Had he been able fully to trust God in reference to Sarah, there would have been no need of any reserve or subterfuge whatever. God would have fenced her round about from every ill; and who can harm those who are the happy subjects of his unslumbering guardianship? However, through mercy, Abraham is enabled to bring out the root of the whole matter,—to confess and judge it thoroughly, and get rid of it. This is the true way to act. There can be no real blessing and power till every particle of leaven is brought forth into the light and there trampled under foot. God's patience is exhaustless. He can wait. He can bear with us; but he never will conduct a soul to the culminating point of blessing and power while leaven remains known and unjudged. Thus much as to Abimelech and Abraham. Let us now look at the moral dignity of the latter, in the view of God.
In the history of God's people, whether we look at them as a whole, or as individuals, we are often struck with the amazing difference between what they are in God's view, and what they are in the view of the world. God sees his people in Christ. He looks at them through Christ; and hence he sees them "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." They are as Christ is before God. They are perfected forever, as to their standing in Christ. "They are not in the flesh but in the Spirit."
But, in themselves, they are poor, feeble, imperfect, stumbling, inconsistent creatures; and, inasmuch as it is what they are in themselves, and that alone, that the world takes knowledge of, therefore it is that the difference seems so great between the divine and the human estimate.
Yet it is God's prerogative to set forth the beauty, the dignity, and the perfection of his people. It is his exclusive prerogative, inasmuch as it is he himself who has bestowed those things. They are only comely through the comeliness which he has put upon them; and it is therefore due to him to declare what that comeliness is; and truly he does it in a manner worthy of himself, and never more blessedly than when the enemy comes forth to injure, to curse, or accuse. Thus, when Balak seeks to curse the seed of Abraham, Jehovah's word is: "I have not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither have I seen perverseness in Israel." "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel." Again, when Satan stands forth to resist Joshua, the word is, "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, ... is not this a brand plucked out of thefire?" Thus he ever puts himself between his people and every tongue that would accuse them. He does not answer the accusation by a reference to what his people are in themselves, or to what they are in the view of the men of this world, but to what he himself has made them, and where he set them.
Thus, in Abraham's case, he might lower himself in the view of Abimelech, king of Gerar; and Abimelech might have to rebuke him, yet, when God comes to deal with the case, he says to Abimelech, "Behold, thou art but a dead man;" and of Abraham he says, "He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee." Yes, with all "the integrity of his heart, and the innocency of his hands," the king of Gerar was "but a dead man;" and, moreover, he must be a debtor to the prayers of the erring and inconsistent stranger for the restoration of the health of his household. Such is the manner of God: he may have many a secret controversy with his child on the ground of his practical ways; but directly the enemy enters a suit against him, Jehovah ever pleads his servant's cause. "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye." "It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?" No dart of the enemy can penetrate the shield, behind which the Lord has hidden the very feeblest lamb of his blood-bought flock. He hides his people in his pavilion, sets their feet upon the Rock of ages, lifts their head above their enemies round about, and fills their hearts with the everlasting joy of his salvation.
His name be praised for evermore!
"And the Lord visited Sarah, as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken." Here we have accomplished promise,—the blessed fruit of patient waiting upon God. None ever waited in vain. The soul that takes hold of God's promise by faith has gotten a stable reality which will never fail him. Thus was it with Abraham; thus was it with all the faithful from age to age; and thus will it be with all those who are enabled, in any measure, to trust in the living God. Oh, it is a wonderful blessing to have God himself as our portion and resting-place, amid the unsatisfying shadows of this scene through which we are passing; to have our anchor cast within the veil; to have the word and oath of God, the two immutable things, to lean upon, for the comfort and tranquillity of our souls.
When God's promise stood before the soul of Abraham, as an accomplished fact, he might well have learnt the futility of his own effort to reach that accomplishment. Ishmael was of no use whatever, so far as God's promise was concerned. He might, and did, afford something for nature's affections to entwine themselves around, thus furnishing a more difficult task for Abraham to perform afterwards; but he was in no wise conducive to the development of the purpose of God, or to the establishment of Abraham's faith,—quite the reverse. Nature can never do aught for God. The Lord must "visit," and the Lord must "do," and faith must wait, and nature must be still; yea, must be entirelyset aside as a dead, worthless thing, and then the divine glory can shine out, and faith find in that outshining all its rich and sweet reward. "Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son in his old age,at the set timeof which God had spoken to him." There is such a thing as God's "set time," his "due season," and for this the faithful must be content to wait. The time may seem long, and hope deferred may make the heart sick; but the spiritual mind will ever find its relief in the assurance that all is for the ultimate display of God's glory. "For the vision is for an appointed time, butat the endit shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry ... but the just shall live by his faith." (Hab. ii. 3, 4.) This wondrous faith! It brings into our present all the power of God's future, and feeds upon God's promise as a present reality. By its power the soul is kept hanging upon God, when every outward thing seems to be against it; and, "at the set time," the mouth is filled with laughter. "Abraham was an hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him." Thus nature had nothing to glory in. "Man's extremity was God's opportunity;" and Sarah said, "Godhath made me to laugh." All is triumph when God is allowed to show himself.
Now, while the birth of Isaac filled Sarah's mouth with laughter, it introduced an entirely new element into Abraham's house. The son of the free-woman very speedily developed the true character of the son of the bond-woman. Indeed, Isaac proved in principle to be to the household of Abraham what the implantation of the new nature is in the soul of a sinner. Itwas notIshmael changed, but it wasIsaac born. The son of the bond-woman could never be any thing else but that. He might become a great nation; he might dwell in the wilderness and become an archer; he might become the father of twelve princes;—but he was the son of the bond-woman all the while. On the contrary, no matter how weak and despised Isaac might be, he was the son of the free-woman. His position and character, his standing and prospects, were all from the Lord. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
Regeneration is not a change of the old nature, but the introduction of a new: it is the implantation of the nature or life of the second Adam, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, founded upon the accomplished redemption of Christ, and in full keeping with the sovereign will or counsel of God. The moment a sinner believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth the Lord Jesus, he becomes the possessor of a new life, and that life is Christ. He is born of God, is a child of God, is a son of the free-woman. (See Rom. x. 9; Col. iii. 4; 1 John iii. 1, 2; Gal. iii. 26; iv. 31.)
Nor does the introduction of this new nature alter, in the slightest degree, the true, essential character of the old. This latter continues what it was, and is made in no respect better; yea, rather, there is the full display of its evil character in opposition to the new element. "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other." There they are in all their distinctness, and the one is only thrown into relief by the other.
I believe this doctrine of the two natures in thebeliever is not generally understood; and yet, so long as there is ignorance of it, the mind must be utterly at sea, in reference to the true standing and privileges of the child of God. Some there are, who think that regeneration is a certain change which the old nature undergoes; and, moreover, that this change is gradual in its operation, until at length the whole man becomes transformed. That this idea is unsound can be proved by various quotations from the New Testament. For example, "the carnal mind is enmity against God." How can that which is thus spoken of ever undergo any improvement? The apostle goes on to say, "it is not subject to the law of God,neither indeed can be." If itcannot besubject to the law of God, how can it be improved? How can it undergo any change? Again, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh." Do what you will with flesh, and it is flesh all the while. As Solomon says, "Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar, among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him." (Prov. xxvii. 22.) There is no use in seeking to make foolishness wise: you must introduce heavenly wisdom into the heart that has been heretofore only governed by folly. Again, "ye have put off the old man." (Col. iii. 9.) He does not say, Ye have improved or are seeking to improve "the old man;" but, Ye have put it off. This gives us a totally different idea. There is a very great difference between seeking to mend an old garment, and casting it aside altogether, and putting on a new one. This is the idea of the last-quoted passage. It is a putting off the old and a putting on of the new. Nothing can be more distinct or simple.
Passages might easily be multiplied to prove the unsoundness of the theory, with respect to the gradual improvement of the old nature,—to prove that the old nature is dead in sins, and utterly unrenewable and unimproveable; and, moreover, that the only thing we can do with it is, to keep it under our feet in the power of that new life which we have in union with our risen Head in the heavens.
The birth of Isaac did not improve Ishmael, but only brought out his real opposition to the child of promise. He might have gone on very quietly and orderly till Isaac made his appearance; but then he showed what he was by persecuting and mocking at the child of resurrection. What, then, was the remedy? To make Ishmael better? By no means; but, "cast out this bond-woman and her son; for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." (8-10.) Here was the only remedy. "That which is crooked cannot be made straight;" therefore you have only to get rid of the crooked thing altogether, and occupy yourself with that which is divinely straight. It is labor lost to seek to make a crooked thing straight. Hence all efforts after the improvement of nature are utterly futile, so far as God is concerned. It may be all very well for men to cultivate and improve that which is of use to themselves; but God has given his children something infinitely better to do, even to cultivate that which is his own creation, the fruits of which, while they in no wise serve to exalt nature, are entirely to his praise and glory.
Now, the error into which the Galatian churches fell, was the introduction of that which addressed itself tonature. "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." Here salvation was made to depend upon something that man could be, or man could do, or man could keep. This was upsetting the whole glorious fabric of redemption, which, as the believer knows, rests exclusively upon what Christ is, and what he has done. To make salvation dependent in the most remote manner upon any thing in, or done by, man, is to set it entirely aside. In other words, Ishmael must be entirely cast out, and all Abraham's hopes be made to depend upon what God had done and given in the person of Isaac. This, it is needless to say, leaves man nothing to glory in. If present or future blessedness were made to depend upon even a divine change wrought in nature, flesh might glory. Though my nature were improved, it would be something ofme, and thus God would not haveallthe glory. But when I am introduced into a new creation, I find it is all of God, designed, matured, developed by himself alone. God is the actor, and I am a worshipper; he is the blesser, and I am the blessed; he is "the better," and I am "the less;" (Heb. vii. 7;) he is the giver, and I am the receiver. This is what makes Christianity what it is; and, moreover, distinguishes it from every system of human religion under the sun, whether it be Romanism, Puseyism, or any otherismwhatsoever. Human religion gives the creature a place more or less; it keeps the bond-woman and her son in the house; it gives man something to glory in. On the contrary, Christianity excludes the creature from all interference in the work of salvation; casts out the bond-woman and her son, and givesallthe glory to him to whom alone it is due.
But let us inquire who this bond-woman and her son really are, and what they shadow forth. Galatians iv. furnishes ample teaching as to these two points. In a word then the bond-woman represents the covenant of the law; and her son represents all who are "of works of law," or on that principle (εξ εργων μομου). This is very plain. The bond-woman only genders to bondage, and can never bring forth a free man. How can she? The law never could give liberty, for so long as a man was alive it ruled him. (Rom. vii. 1.) I can never be free so long as I am under the dominion of any one. But while I live, the law rules me; and nothing but death can give me deliverance from its dominion. This is the blessed doctrine of Romans vii. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him that is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." This is freedom; for, "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John viii. 36.) "So, then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free." (Gal. iv. 31.)
Now, it is in the power of this freedom that we are enabled to obey the command, "Cast out this bond-woman and her son." If I am not consciously free, I shall be seeking to attain liberty in the strangest way possible, even by keeping the bond-woman in the house; in other words, I shall be seeking to get life by keeping the law; I shall be establishing any own righteousness. No doubt, it will involve a struggle to cast out this element of bondage, for legalism is natural to our hearts. "The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight, because of his son." Still, however grievous it maybe, it is according to the divine mind that we should abidingly "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (Gal. v. 1.) May we, beloved reader, so fully and experimentally enter into the blessedness of God's provision for us in Christ that we may be done with all thoughts about the flesh, and all that it can be, do, or produce. There is a fulness in Christ which renders all appeal to nature utterly superfluous and vain.
Abraham is now in a fit moral position to have his heart put to a most severe test. The long-cherished reserve being put forth from his heart, in Chap. xx.—the bond-woman and her son being put forth from his house, as in Chap. xxi., he now stands forth in the most honored position in which any soul can be placed, and that is a position of trial from the hand of God himself. There are various kinds of trial: trial from the hand of Satan; trial from surrounding circumstances; but the highest character of trial is that which comes directly from the hand of God, when he puts his dear child into the furnace for the purpose of testing the reality of his faith. God will do this: he must have reality. It will not do to say, "Lord, Lord," or, "I go, sir." The heart must be probed to the very bottom, in order that no element of hypocrisy or false profession may be allowed to lodge there. "My son, give methine heart." He does not say, "Give me thine head,or thine intellect, or thy talents, or thy tongue, or thy money;" but "Give me thine heart:" and in order to prove the sincerity of our response to this gracious command, he will lay his hand upon something very near our hearts. Thus he says to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt-offering, upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." This was coming very close to Abraham's heart. It was passing him through a searching crucible indeed. God "requires truth in the inward parts." There may be much truth on the lips, and much in the intellect, but God looks for it in the heart. It is no ordinary proof that will satisfy God, as to the love of our hearts. He himself did not rest satisfied with giving an ordinary proof. He gave his Son, and we should aim at giving very striking proofs of our love to him who so loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins.
However, it is well to see that God confers a signal honor upon us when he thus tests our hearts. We never read that "the Lord did tempt Lot." No; Sodom tempted Lot. He never reached a sufficiently high elevation to warrant his being tried by the hand of Jehovah. It was too plainly manifest that there was plenty between his heart and the Lord, and it did not, therefore, require the furnace to bring that out. Sodom would have held out no temptation whatever to Abraham. This was made manifest in his interview with Sodom's king, in Chapter xiv. God knew well that Abraham loved him far better than Sodom; but he would make it manifest that he loved him better thanany one or any thing, by laying his hand upon the nearest and dearest object. "Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac." Yes, Isaac, the child of promise; Isaac, the object of long-deferred hope, the object of parental love, and the one in whom all the kindreds of the earth were to be blessed. This Isaac must be offered as a burnt-offering. This, surely, was putting faith to the test, in order that, being more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, it might be found unto praise, and honor, and glory. Had Abraham's whole soul not been stayed simply on the Lord, he never could have yielded unhesitating obedience to such a searching command. But God himself was the living and abiding support of his heart, and therefore he was prepared to give up all for him.
The soul that has foundallits springs in God, can, without any demur, retire fromallcreature streams. We can give up the creature, just in proportion as we have found out, or become experimentally acquainted with the Creator, and no further. To attempt to give up the visible things in any other way, save in the energy of that faith which lays hold of the invisible, is the most fruitless labor possible. It cannot be done. I will hold fast my Isaac until I have found my all in God. It is when we are enabled by faith, to say "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," that we can also add, "therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." (Ps. xlvi. 1, 2.)
"And Abraham rose up early in the morning." There is ready obedience. "I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments." Faith never stopsto look at circumstances, or ponder results; it only looks at God; it expresses itself thus: "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." (Gal. i. 15, 16.) The moment we confer with flesh and blood, our testimony and service are marred, for flesh and blood can never obey. We must rise early, and carry out, through grace, the divine command. Thus we are blessed, and God is glorified. Having God's own word as the basis of our acting will ever impart strength and stability to our acting. If we merely act from impulse, when the impulse subsides, the acting will subside also.
There are two things needful to a course of steady and consistent action, viz., the Holy Ghost, as the power of action, and the word to give proper direction. To use a familiar illustration: on a railway, we should find steam of little use without the iron rails firmly laid down; the former is the power by which we move; and the latter, the direction. It is needless to add that the rails would be of little use without the steam. Now, Abraham was blessed with both. He had the power of action conferred by God; and the command to act given by God also. His devotedness was of a most definite character; and this is deeply important. We frequently find much that looks like devotedness, but which, in reality, is but the desultory activity of a will not brought under the powerful action of the word of God. All such apparent devotedness is worthless, and the spirit from which it proceeds will very speedily evaporate. We may lay down the following principle,viz., whenever devotedness passes beyond divinely appointed bounds it is suspicious. If it comes not up to these bounds it is defective; if it flows without them it is erratic. I quite admit that there are extraordinary operations and ways of the Spirit of God, in which he asserts his own sovereignty, and rises above ordinary bounds; but, in such cases, the evidence of divine activity will be sufficiently strong to carry home conviction to every spiritual mind; nor will they, in the slightest degree, interfere with the truth of the principle that true devotedness will ever be founded upon and governed by divine principle. To sacrifice a son might seem to be an act of most extraordinary devotedness; but, be it remembered, that what gave that act all its value, in God's sight, was the simple fact of its being based upon God's command.
Then, we have another thing connected with true devotedness, and that is a spirit of worship. "I and the lad will go yonder andworship." The really devoted servant will keep his eye, not on his service, be it ever so great, but on the Master, and this will produce a spirit of worship. If I love my master, according to the flesh, I shall not mind whether I am cleaning his shoes or driving his carriage; but if I am thinking more of myself than of him, I shall rather be a coachman than a shoeblack. So it is precisely in the service of the heavenly Master: if I am thinking only of him, planting churches and making tents will be both alike to me. We may see the same thine in angelic ministry. It matters not to an angel whether he be sent to destroy an army, or to protect the person of some heir of salvation. It is the Master who entirely fills his vision. Assome one has remarked, "if two angels were sent from heaven, one to rule an empire, and the other to sweep the streets, they would not dispute about their respective work." This is most true, and so should it be with us. The servant should ever be combined with the worshipper, and the works of our hands perfumed with the ardent breathings of our spirits. In other words we should go forth to our work in the spirit of those memorable words, "I and the lad will go yonder and worship." This would effectually preserve us from that merely mechanical service into which we are so prone to drop,—doing things for doing's sake, and being more occupied with our work than with our Master. All must flow from simple faith in God, and obedience to his word.
"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises, offered up his only-begotten." (Heb. xi. 17.) It is only as we are walking by faith that we can begin, continue, and end our works in God. Abraham not merely set out to offer his son, but he went on, and reached the spot which God had appointed. "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife: and they went both of them together." And further on we read, "And Abraham built an altar there; and laid the wood in order; and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son." This was real work, "a work of faith and labor of love," in the highest sense. It was no mere mockery—no drawing near with the lips, while the heart was far off—no saying,"I go, sir, and went not." It was all deep reality, just such as faith ever delights to produce, and which God delights to accept. It is easy to make a show of devotedness when there is no demand for it. It is easy to say, "though all shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended ... though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee;" but the point is to stand the trial. When Peter was put to the test, he entirely broke down. Faith never talks of what it will do, but does what it can in the strength of the Lord. Nothing can be more thoroughly worthless than a spirit of empty pretension. It is just as worthless as the basis on which it rests. But faith acts "when it is tried;" and till then it is content to be unseen and silent.
Now, it needs hardly to be remarked that God is glorified in those holy activities of faith. He is the immediate object of them, as he is the spring from whence they emanate. There was not a scene in Abraham's entire history in which God was so much glorified as the scene on Mount Moriah. There it was that he was enabled to bear testimony to the fact that he had found all his fresh springs in God,—found them not merely previous to, but after, Isaac's birth. This is a most touching point. It is one thing to rest in God's blessings, and another thing to rest in himself. It is one thing to trust God when I have before my eyes the channel through which the blessing is to flow; and quite another thing to trust him when that channel is entirely stopped up. This was what proved the excellency of Abraham's faith. He showed that he could not merely trust God for an innumerable seed whileIsaac stood before him in health and vigor; but just as fully if he were a smoking victim on the altar. This was a high order of confidence in God; it was unalloyed confidence; it was not a confidence propped up in part by the Creator and in part by the creature. No; it rested on one solid pedestal, viz., God himself. "He accounted that God was able." He never accounted that Isaac was able. Isaac without God was nothing; God without Isaac was every thing. This is a principle of the very last importance, and one eminently calculated to test the heart most keenly. Does it make any difference to me to see the apparent channel of all my blessings dried up? Am I dwelling sufficiently near the fountain-head to be able, with a worshipping spirit, to behold all the creature streams dried up? This I do feel to be a searching question. Have I such a simple view of God's sufficiency as to be able as it were to "stretch forth my hand and take the knife to slay my son." Abraham was enabled to do this, because his eye rested on the God of resurrection. "He accounted that God was able to raise him up even from the dead."